Muscovy Incubation, by Broody or Incubator

[Ren2014]

I did a horrible thing... Sunday after I collected eggs, I found some in a nest next to my Muscovy Bell. She was sitting on 20 eggs in a house. I thought it odd for some to have come in and lay after I picked everything up but I didn't put anymore thought into it and I picked them up. Turns out tonight, half of Bell's eggs are missing. I came in the house and started cracking the eggs I picked up late and sure enough they had embryos

Would Bell have moved them out into another nest??

 

[2crazyflockers]

Sorry for your loss.  I have heard of that happening and it usually does not turn out well.  I can hardly believe how one duck fits in an egg.. couldn't even imagine two

thank you! Yes it was really hard to believe!! The egg was bigger but nowhere near big enough for two or at least I thought!! I soo wish they could have made it!

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I have seen it. Make sure the eggs are laying on their side with the lowest point of dip up. Mine didn't make it so I'm hoping someone else will reply with advice...

@Pyxis
@casportpony
@WVduckchick
@learycow

None have hatched yet. It looked like a good percentage of them had some water in the air cell. I thought about making a small hole with a needle and aspirating the fluid out of the egg, but that just seems like it has too many disadvantages. I'll let nature take its course.

I have two broody scovies sharing that nest and man are they being protective. One went after my ankle when I was poking around yesterday! If all of the eggs are bad, I have a ton more in the incubator I'll swap them with. I have 16 that will go into lockdown Sunday.

Do you do the "water test" when looking for bad eggs or do you candle them? I've certainly smelled a few bad ones....ish....

Hello! Just thought I'd share how crazy scovy incubation can be! I had a huge egg last night that had not one but two ducklings in it!! Sadly neither made it but how crazy is a twin egg? Trying to perk myself up a bit!

I've never heard of either surviving, but that's still pretty cool!

I did a horrible thing... Sunday after I collected eggs, I found some in a nest next to my Muscovy Bell. She was sitting on 20 eggs in a house. I thought it odd for some to have come in and lay after I picked everything up but I didn't put anymore thought into it and I picked them up. Turns out tonight, half of Bell's eggs are missing. I came in the house and started cracking the eggs I picked up late and sure enough they had embryos

Would Bell have moved them out into another nest??

I think it's very possible. They do the weirdest things. How far along were they?

 

[Ren2014]

None have hatched yet. It looked like a good percentage of them had some water in the air cell. I thought about making a small hole with a needle and aspirating the fluid out of the egg, but that just seems like it has too many disadvantages. I'll let nature take its course.

I have two broody scovies sharing that nest and man are they being protective. One went after my ankle when I was poking around yesterday! If all of the eggs are bad, I have a ton more in the incubator I'll swap them with. I have 16 that will go into lockdown Sunday.

Do you do the "water test" when looking for bad eggs or do you candle them? I've certainly smelled a few bad ones....ish....



I've never heard of either surviving, but that's still pretty cool!



I think it's very possible. They do the weirdest things. How far along were they?

they all hatch successfully.

Well, I'm not sure what has gone wrong, but something got Bell's remaining eggs. The pen it predator proof tight EXCEPT for the ramp that I leave down during the day. Whatever got them did so during the night. I don't think it was a snake because it couldn't have eaten all 10 of them and moved on so quickly. I moved our other Svovy "Babe" up off the ground into a 100% predator proof house for the remainder of her sitting. She is very unhappy right now. I hope she settles down. She has 13 eggs.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

Raccoon? It would have actually had to have been out during the day, but you never know...

I did the float test and right now everything is moving. Time will tell.

 

[Ren2014]

Raccoon? It would have actually had to have been out during the day, but you never know...

I did the float test and right now everything is moving. Time will tell.

I honestly just don't have a clue. Our dogs usually keep varmints away.

YAY for the float tests.

for continued success. I've only tried the float test once and nobody moved

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I was a bit worried about the water in the air cells, but the Mom's did great and 14/15 hatched Friday! I left the last egg in the nest just because I know some straggler eggs made it in after she was sitting on the clutch.

I cleaned up the nest box and transferred 14 eggs from the incubator to it hoping my chocolate hen who just went broody would take it over. Surprisingly, my blue barred hen who took over the recent hatch, starting laying on them. They should hopefully hatch within the next two weeks. Another duck hen has a nice large clutch of eggs that should be hatching around the same time. I plan on keeping a good amount of ducklings from these as they'll carry the barring gene.

Enjoy the cranky mom pictures! Muscovies really do make the best mothers....

 

[Ren2014]

I was a bit worried about the water in the air cells, but the Mom's did great and 14/15 hatched Friday! I left the last egg in the nest just because I know some straggler eggs made it in after she was sitting on the clutch.

I cleaned up the nest box and transferred 14 eggs from the incubator to it hoping my chocolate hen who just went broody would take it over. Surprisingly, my blue barred hen who took over the recent hatch, starting laying on them. They should hopefully hatch within the next two weeks. Another duck hen has a nice large clutch of eggs that should be hatching around the same time. I plan on keeping a good amount of ducklings from these as they'll carry the barring gene.

Enjoy the cranky mom pictures! Muscovies really do make the best mothers....

AWESOME! I am so happy it turned out well

How soon after hatching do they start laying again?

 

[MinnesotaNice]

AWESOME! I am so happy it turned out well

How soon after hatching do they start laying again?

As soon as days afterwards they can start laying another clutch. Once I put the other eggs out there, both hens went right back on them. It's nice to have two mom's as they take turns eating, drinking, and bathing. It gives them more time off of the nest. Once these hatch in the next week or two, I'm going to try and break their broody streak.

 

[MinnesotaNice]

I wanted to share this one here quick in case anyone runs into this....

Last night I came home to a Muscovy egg pipping in the incubator. I couldn't believe it. This year, I've let some girls lay on their own clutches, but I've also collected eggs from my other girls to partially incubate. I then put them under a broody Muscovy hen with a week or two left. I must have marked the wrong egg as the pipped egg says 6/17 on it, which is the date I put them in the incubator. There's no way the chick would be formed to the point of pipping at 10 days. I'm sure this egg belonged to the group I put under a broody Scovie hen about 4 days ago.

Now you have the back story, the duckling broke free around 3am this morning. There was a large amount of brownish liquid (smells like old blood) around it, so it's now on a paper towel in the bator. The yolk has been absorbed, so perhaps it didn't fully absorb all of the blood from the veins before hatching (when assisting a hatch, this is absolutely critical to look for). And perhaps this is just due to the duckling being new and figuring out life outside of the egg, but it almost appears to have wry neck now. I left the duckling in the incubator and also left the humidity high (around 65-70). This way nothing will stick to it and if there is something more to absorb unseen to my eye, it can. I did consider wrapping the duckling in a wet cloth and keeping it inside the incubator, but I won't be around to observe it.

I don't expect survival at this point. It was a rough hatch and I don't like how the duckling is positioned outside of the egg at this time. If it's still alive when I get home, I'll assess it, clean it off, keep it dry and warm under a light, and get some vitamins/electrolytes in it.